ICC T20 World Cup: UAE on standby as host after Covid-19 surge in India

April 27, 2021

ICC T20 World Cup – UAE on Standyby: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is on standby to host this year’s ICC T20 World Cup should escalating Covid rates in India make a switch necessary.

Although ICC sources say it is too early to make a call on a tournament that is due to get under way in just under six months, they are ‘monitoring the situation closely’ and have been in regular dialogue with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

Sri Lanka has also been mooted as an alternative option, but the UAE is the preferred choice as a country with a relatively small population of nine million and a young demographic.

ICC T20 World Cup: UAE on standby as host after Covid-19 surge in India

Official new daily infections in India top 350,000, and unofficial ones suggest the numbers are far greater.

Either way, they are at a much higher level than last autumn when the BCCI themselves shifted the postponed 2020 Indian Premier League to the Emirates.

An ICC delegation is currently in India, which last week proposed nine venues for the month-long tournament, due to start midway through October and conclude with a final at the world’s biggest cricket ground — the 130,000-capacity stadium in Ahmedabad where England played several matches over winter — on November 13.

Also Read: IPL 2021: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly says no change in plan, ‘IPL to go on as scheduled’

IPL 2021: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly declares no change in plan, ‘IPL to go on as scheduled’

Meanwhile Despite pull-out by 4 players on Monday, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly & other high-ups have declared that IPL 2021 will be held as scheduled.

“So far, it’s going on as scheduled,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president told Sportstar on Monday.

InsideSport.co reached out to various BCCI officials on Monday. All of them agreed that situation is very grim but for now they are continuing with IPL 2021 as planned earlier.

“All of us are seeing, discussing with each other. We completely understand that the situation is grim. BCCI like any other organization is completely with the people of country in these difficult times. But we have a job to do and also have a responsibility towards our cricketers and the sport. We are trying to do that job to the best of our abilities. Please understand that IPL also brings in lot of joy for the entire country. We will continue the league as of now”, declared one of the top BCCI official via SMS to InsideSport.

ICC T20 World Cup: UAE on standby as host after Covid-19 surge in India